Currently, our mobile devices allow us to do practically everything: buy a flight, ask for help, record videos, search for a location, among the many possibilities. However, there are many very useful functions that we tend to neglect which, at a given moment, can be necessary to get us out of trouble and save our lives. But for this, it is necessary to follow the updates.
Apple launched the first iPhone 15 years ago, and smartphones have come a long way since then. So much so that some of the more obvious functions have been forgotten or hidden in other tools. There are four features that you probably don’t even know on your device, be it Android or Apple.
Determine your location better with Live View mode
Google Maps, or Maps in the case of iPhones, are two must-have apps on the home screen. In fact, they come by default. In recent months, both Google and Apple have added an augmented reality camera to be able to better locate it, especially in big cities – of course, it’s one of the functions that consumes the most battery power.
In the case of Google Maps, this is a function called Live View, which offers us a more accurate and visual way to navigate around the city. To activate it, press “Directions” and select the “Walking” mode. Click on the “Live View” icon in one corner of the map. Then, the phone itself will ask you to point the camera at nearby buildings so the app can learn about the surroundings, and compare them to “Google Street View” images. Maps have a similar feature – in this case, you will have to press the AR icon.
Scan documents and QR codes
The Covid-19 pandemic has revived ‘old’ digital formats, such as QR. Restaurants, museums, galleries and tour guides put all their information into QR codes. Most users download an app to read it, but did you know that you can scan it directly from the camera, without the need for apps? You just need to focus the code and the link that will show the QR directions.
A smartphone camera can act as a QR or QR code scanner and also any type of document. On iOS, you can use the Notes app to create a new note by tapping the camera icon in the toolbar and choosing ‘Scan’. You can also scan a document and attach it to an email as well by clicking the scan icon.
Google Drive has a similar scan tool. Google Stack for Android also scans and organizes PDF files. The camera on some Samsung Galaxy phones also detects and scans any paper document.
Find a song and download it to Apple Music, Spotify or YouTube Music
The mobile microphone is not only used for sending voice notes, dictating or answering audio/video calls, but also for searching and being able to download any song directly to Apple Music, Spotify or YouTube Music with a single button – this is after Apple’s 2018 acquisition of a recognition app Music Shazam.
To do this, you will have to activate the “Auto Shazam” function, which automatically identifies the song. Once selected, you will be able to play it on your Apple Music, Deezer, Spotify or YouTube Music account. It is recommended that you link your lists to Shazam through the app.
Ask for help via smartphone
If you find yourself in a dangerous situation and need to call emergency services, know that there are shortcuts for this. On the iPhone, versions older than 8 have a trick that allows this: press and hold the button on the right side of the phone and one of the volume buttons until you see the Emergency SOS slider on the screen. Simply drag the control to call the local emergency number. For Android devices, press and hold the device’s power button until you see the emergency icon.
